Going Steady: New Singles Reviewed 4-27-18 – 5-3-18

Right Moves – A Boogie Wit da Hoodie – The xylophone track is prime and the beat is a bounce and while the lyric is the usual blowhard ego stuff the sample, a marimba, comes straight off “Rugrats” and that counts for a lot – B+

Brooklyn In The Summer – Aloe Blacc – This neo soul guy had his moments, and this is a pretty sound, with a terrific hook, a beat on keyboards bang, but the song should be a touch better – B-

Any Old Road (Will Take You There) [with Atlanta Pops Orchestra Ensemble] – Balsam Range – A terrific bluegrass band adds strings and steals a sound you first heard from Harry Nilsson – B+

Rich (With Wiz Khalifa) – Gladius James – Gladius dabbles the autotune and Wiz adds a word here and there on this r&b track – C

California – Hot Shade, Mike Perry, Karlyn – Off the rack EDM banger, that sample… what is it? Sounds like horns with a cold – C+

Hasta Luego – HRVY, Malu, Trevejo – Not unpleasant Latin dance – B

Have It All – Jason Mraz – This guy can write a jaunty singer songwriter song but he is beyond tepid even when he does and this really stinks – MUST TO AVOID – D

El Anillo – Jennifer Lopez – Nice little dance track, doesn’t try too much and will probably remain solely on the Latin charts, but none the worse for it as he bangs and bounces with intensity – B+

F**k U – Kailee Morgue – The bass sounds like a Burt Bacharach hook transported and the mood is slow, sweet, singer songwriter trope as Kailee sticks it to a jerk guy. This girl is cool, here she is talking to I.D. “What would Kailee would do, we wonder, if one day, like the record’s namesake, she woke up with venomous snakes instead of hair? “Probably take a bunch of selfies” – B+

Ye Vs The People – Kanye West, T.I. – Kanye’s problem isn’t his politics but that he is not very clever, T.I. calls him “stubborn, selfish, bullheaded” and it is hard to deny, but the point isn’t the argument (which makes an occasional valid argument: Kweezy feels boxed in to the democrats) or that we all know that Kanye was upset by Obama’s dismissal of him, and is striking right back. The point is the rapping, and the rapping is great and also? That Four Tops sample (“7 Rooms Of Gloom”) is ace – SINGLE OF THE WEEK – A

After You – Tay-K – Here is a first, Tay-K recorded a video once while on the run from the cops after cutting off his ankle bracelet… you’d think this would be a little heavier…

2 Vaults (feat. Lil Yachty) – Tee Grizzley – Jesus Christ, his mom was arrested for drug trafficking and his dad was murdered, the first member of his family to make it to college, he was arrested for stealing over 20K of appliances in his dorm, and this is a very good rap track – B

Want – Time Mix 2018 – The Cure – From the upcoming Mixed Up and Torn down remix albums, it works for me – B

Roll (Burbank Funk) – The Internet – First rate EDM blues track from the great band – B+